Amtrak partially restores some service in Northeast; but no trains to or from New York

Amtrak announced earlier today that it has begun to partially restore some service in the mid-Atlantic states, but it won’t be possible to travel to or from New York City by rail for at least several days due to badly flooded tunnels.

Here’s the advisory Amtrak released not long ago:

Amtrak will provide modified Northeast Regional service between Newark, N.J., and points south, on Wednesday, October 31, including restoring Virginia service to Lynchburg, Richmond and Newport News. Amtrak will also operate Keystone Service trains between Harrisburg, Penn., and Philadelphia, and modified Downeaster service trains between Boston and Portland, Maine, along with some overnight services to and from the Northeast.

However, as in the case of other tunnel owners and operators in New York City, Amtrak is removing water and making repairs to track, signal and power systems within its tunnels under the Hudson and East rivers. The amount of water intrusion into the tunnels is unprecedented – as was the storm itself – so a date for restoration of Amtrak service directly to/from New York Penn Station from either the north or south is not available at this time.

Therefore, there will be no Northeast Regional service between Newark and Boston and no Acela Express service for the length of the Northeast Corridor on Wednesday, October 31. Also, at Newark Penn Station, there will be no connecting service to New York City and no elevator or escalator service. Service to the Newark Liberty Airport rail station is suspended due to a lack of connecting services.

Also canceled on Wednesday, October 31, is the Empire Service between New York City and Buffalo/Niagara Falls, the Adirondack to and from Montreal, Québec, Canada, and the Ethan Allen Express to and from Rutland, Vt., due to track damage south of Albany-Rensselaer, N.Y.

All of the MTA’s commuter trains are also out of operation. They won’t run tomorrow and they aren’t likely to run Thursday or Friday, either. Within New York City, only buses are running – no subway service is available.

Air travel remains disrupted, as well. John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) are both set to reopen tomorrow with limited service, but LaGuardia (LGA) is still closed due to serious flooding.

Greyhound has resumed service between major cities in Maryland and Virginia, but is not serving New York, Atlantic City, or Mt. Laurel. There is also no service to Ocean City in Maryland. Peter Pan is resuming most of its service tomorrow, but there are some cancellations.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is operating its commuter trains, so rail travel into Rhode Island is available as far south as the Providence area.

New Jersey Transit remains almost completely shut down. Limited bus service in Camden County is resuming, but that’s it.

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This entry was written by Andrew and posted on October 30th, 2012 at 7:35 PM.

One Comment

I adore Amtrak. Love and care is key to the sustainability of train service in America. Hope ridership returns once the trains start running again.

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